Christina Norman – VG247http://www.vg247.com
VG247.comFri, 09 Dec 2016 13:36:26 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.3Mass Effect 3 From Ashes DLC not shipped on dischttp://www.vg247.com/2012/03/11/rumour-mass-effect-3-from-ashes-dlc-shipped-on-disc/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/11/rumour-mass-effect-3-from-ashes-dlc-shipped-on-disc/#commentsSun, 11 Mar 2012 22:19:15 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=241658EA has stepped on an Internet furore kicked up by a player claiming to have proof that Mass Effect 3’s day one DLC is included on the disc.

“From Ashes is a 600 MB+ download with all new content, including the mission on Eden Prime, new dialogue options and conversations with Javik, new cinematics, the Prothean weapon, and new appearances for all squad members. All of the above content was completed while the main game was in certification and are not available on the disc,” EA said in a statement given to GameInformer.

“As stated previously, in order to seamlessly integrate Javik into the core campaign, certain framework elements and character models needed to be put on disc. We did something similar with Zaeed and Kasumi in Mass Effect 2.”

An outraged fan has posted a video showing what is claimed to be the activation of the From Ashes DLC simply by changing one line of code in the PC version of the game.

The video sparked an outpouring of rage from users who maintain that the DLC is content cut from and essential to the core game, and who resent paying for it.

BioWare has said repeatedly that the DLC was developed post-certification. The developer has come under heavy fire for its release of day one DLC, but ex-BioWare staffer Christina Norman took the stage at GDC to defend the practice.

“There’s no point in releasing DLC a year after your game has come out when most people have already sold your game back to GameStop three times. That means getting it out early; that means even day-one DLC,” she said, according to Shack News.

“That is a terrible thing to some players. Players rant – they know nothing about this DLC that’s coming out except its name. But then it’s ‘oh this game must be incomplete, the game must be ruined.’ Game developers are not evil. (Some are evil.) But most are not evil.

“We just want to release awesome stuff. Players please, give us a chance. Judge our games based on what they are. Judge the DLC based on what it is. Stop thinking you’re a producer and telling us when and where we should be building our content.”

Mass Effect 3 is out now on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and is selling by the truckload. The game’s broad appeal has inevitably led to plenty of controversies, including a fan petition to change the ending.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/11/rumour-mass-effect-3-from-ashes-dlc-shipped-on-disc/feed/16Lead gameplay designer for Mass Effect 2 and 3 joins Riot Gameshttp://www.vg247.com/2011/07/12/lead-gameplay-designer-for-mass-effect-2-and-3-joins-riot-games/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/07/12/lead-gameplay-designer-for-mass-effect-2-and-3-joins-riot-games/#commentsTue, 12 Jul 2011 16:28:21 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=185855Christina Norman has joined Riot Games as a lead designer for the League of Legends developer.

Norman was previously the lead gameplay designer for Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. She announced last week via Twitter and her blog she was moving from Edmonton, Canada to Santa Monica, California.

“I am thankful for my experience working on the Mass Effect series at BioWare, and think that Mass Effect 3 is going to be the best game in the series,” Norman told Gamasutra.

“I’m looking forward to working with Riot on innovative new approaches to game design and game development in the rapidly-changing video game market.”

Mass Effect 1 and 2 lead designer Preston Watamaniuk has taken over Norman’s previous role at BioWare.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2011/07/12/lead-gameplay-designer-for-mass-effect-2-and-3-joins-riot-games/feed/8BioWare ramping AI and enemy design for Mass Effect 3http://www.vg247.com/2011/07/07/bioware-ramping-ai-and-enemy-design-for-mass-effect-3/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/07/07/bioware-ramping-ai-and-enemy-design-for-mass-effect-3/#commentsThu, 07 Jul 2011 00:29:47 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=184753Enemies in Mass Effect 3 are to be smarter and more complementary, BioWare has said, resulting in tougher combat all round.

“We still have some more work to go, but we want you to feel that the enemies you’re fighting are more complex, that they have multiple behaviours, and that they’re reacting to what’s going on. ”

Norman, who recently left BioWare Edmonton for a new position in Los Angeles, said that turning the difficulty up in Mass Effect 3 will trigger different enemy behaviour, some of which never occur on lower settings.

“Now we look at enemies as a force, with units within the force, and each of them has a role,” she said.

“You end up with this really cool chessboard thing, where you have a knight and a bishop, they’ll work together in one way but if you have a knight and a rook, they’ll work together in a different way. It’s giving our level designers and combat designers a lot more opportunities, not with heavy scripting, but just by combining these pieces that work together in new and interesting ways.”

For smarter enemies, you need smarter players, and BioWare are pushing for players to think about mobility.

“So the player is never thinking, ‘I’m walking into this safe place with great cover, I’ll stay there and fight’ but more ‘how am I going to move through the battlefield as the enemies move through the battlefield against me?'” Norman explained.

Bosses and heavy enemies will see a makeover too, with fewer “bullet sponge” situations.

“If you can interact with the enemy in specific ways by shooting at weak points? Use the environment against them? Those are the factors that make larger enemies more interesting to fight,” Norman commented.

Mass Effect 3 is due on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in March 2012.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2011/07/07/bioware-ramping-ai-and-enemy-design-for-mass-effect-3/feed/5Tuesday Shorts: CoD4StarWars, The End, NiGHTS into Dreamshttp://www.vg247.com/2011/07/05/tuesday-shorts-cod4starwars-the-end-nights-into-dreams/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/07/05/tuesday-shorts-cod4starwars-the-end-nights-into-dreams/#commentsTue, 05 Jul 2011 21:10:58 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=184486The holiday is over, the fireworks were cool; let’s have some shorts, there’s no Dana only Zuul.

The news everyone and their dog has been waiting for since January: Mass Effect 3’s development is now under way.

BioWare’s Christina Norman confirmed the news by stating she was working on something for the game called “Project Wombat”.

“ME3 Trivia: Today I started work on “Project Wombat” for Mass Effect 3,” she said in a tweet. She hinted it could be some sort of gameplay system for the game, having previously tweeted the ammo system for Mass Effect 2 was called “Project Sasquatch”.

Norman wouldn’t state what Wombat was, though. “Wow a lot of speculation on what Project Wombat is. Sorry I can’t say! I can say the name has nothing to do with the project,” she added in a later tweet.

BioWare has released bits and pieces of information pertaining to the solider class in Mass Effect 2 for a while now, but today is the first time a “complete picture” has been painted for the fighter.

According to lead combat designer Christina Norman, the Solider is a “weapons master” and will be packing around an exclusive light machinegun.

“In ME1 mastering weapons and armor required leveling up and spending points”, Norman told IGN. “It was impossible for a soldier to fully master all of his weapons and armor, because you never had enough points.

“In Mass Effect 2 you start the game with full mastery of all your weapons. With our dramatically improved weapon and cover, you’ll find playing a soldier feels like playing a shooter right from the start.

“He carries more weapons, and better weapons, than any other class. He has access to all three special ammo types, so he can customize his guns to take down any enemy. A properly played soldier out damages any other class in the game.

“The soldier is also our toughest character, with more health than any other class and the soldier has less active powers than other classes, but the two he has are really good and well suited to real-time play. Concussive shot fires a blast that quickly takes down a single target. Adrenaline rush boosts the soldier’s speed, reflexes, and weapon damage dramatically increasing his offense. It’s also a great defensive ability for getting safely to cover.

“The light machinegun, is also a soldier exclusive weapon. It’s my favorite weapon in the game, and if you want it, you have to be a soldier.”

The game’s out in just a few shakes this month, and a video of the solider in action can be found through here.

Voice by Martin Sheen, the Man believes the “end justifies the means”, at any cost. Sounds dramatic.

If you are in the mood for more Mass Effect 2 goodness – and who isn’t – lead gameplay designer, Christina Norman, has a new blog post on enemy defenses in the game.

In her blog post, she states that one of the areas the developers wanted to improve upon the sequel was enemy power resists.

“With ME1, enemies would sometimes resist your powers, but it wasn’t clear when they would, or why,” she wrote. “More importantly, if your enemy was resisting your powers, there was nothing you could do about it.

“For Mass Effect 2 we’ve combined enemy resists with defensive shields, armor, and barriers. These defenses are displayed in a bar over the enemy’s health bar. As long as the bar is visible, your target is resistant to powers, but all powers deplete his defense bar. Once the defense bar is gone, he is vulnerable to all your powers.

Christina Norman, senior technical designer for Mass Effect 2, has told IGN that the Vanguard class has been given “the deadliest” powers from both the soldier and adept, with each one selected for its ability to “complement the Vanguard’s aggressive play style”.

“The shockwave power sends out a series of explosive biotic impacts from the caster,” Norman told the site. “This is perfect for the Vanguard’s close-range play style.

“Incendiary and Cryo ammo are also great powers for the Vanguard. Freezing an enemy solid, or panicking him by setting him on fire helps the Vanguard survive those up-close encounters where every enemy bullet is potentially a kill shot.

“Pull is the one power we gave the Vanguard that’s designed to be used at range. Knowing when not to charge is what separates a master vanguard from an apprentice. In those situations, pull will let you bring your enemies to you, so you can finish them off with your shotgun.

“While it’s not a power, the Vanguard’s shotgun capabilities are unmatched. Charge is the ultimate way to close with an enemy, and the shotgun is the ultimate up-close weapon.”

Sounds deadly and great. The full thing is through the link, and new video is through here.

Mass Effect 2’s lead combat designer, Christina Norman, has spilled the beans on the game’s Engineer class to IGN, and told the site that the class is more “strategic” and less “brute force”.

“We wanted playing the engineer to have a unique feel to it,” Norman told the site. “We designed the Engineer to play as a more strategic, less brute force, class. Perhaps the most strategic move an Engineer can make is using his powers to gain strength in numbers via Combat Drone and AI Hack.

“Combat Drone is a new power that only Engineers get. When you summon a combat drone it will harass enemies, drawing fire away from you, and knocking enemies out of cover. Your combat drone can die, but you can summon a new one every few seconds. Smart engineers will make sure they always have a combat drone active on their side.

“AI Hack is a power that lets you take control of a mechanical enemy. We’ve improved hack from ME1. It’s now a true “charm” ability — hacked enemies will not turn on you even if you shoot them. Hack also puts a powerful defensive shield on the hacked target, which helps ensure your new pet will survive long enough to be useful. When your pet dies you can always hack a new one, as long as there are synthetic opponents available.

“With Combat Drone and AI Hack, plus his two squad mates, Engineers command a larger team than any other class. ”

There’s a video posted below the break of the Engineer being a bad ass. You should have a watch.